If "Die Hard" is a Christmas movie, then so is "1984" and "Tootsie". If you get to the point of referencing a movie by holiday season just because that's when you first saw it, well, get ready to call "The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert" a Summer Action Flick.

Man, I'm suuuper late to this party....
Anyways, Die Hard is and is not a Christmas movie at the same time. And it depends on your definition what makes a Christmas movie.
I'm gonna take an insane detour here that'll make sense.
Is Star Wars Episode 4 a science fiction movie?
That setting is futuristic, sure, must be sci-fi then. Lasers, Spaceships, Robots, the works. The checklist is done. Sci-Fi.
But what are the themes it touches upon, what is the story?
A young farmer's boy (naturally an adoptred orphan) named Luke is dragged into a rebellion against an evil king (Palpatine) by accident. When the boy get's hold of a pretty princess' (RIP Carrie Fisher) message to an old ally and menthor (Obi) through the fault of her two comic-relief servants (Robot-slaves), he decides to seek the adventure he's yearning for. He finds the old man (by fucking up) and both seek the next harbor to board a ship to join the resistance. The hire smuggler/pirate/bandit/nerfherder Han and his foreign friend Chewie and cross paths with the black knight Lord Vader, the evil kings enforcer. Hijinks ensue, princess rescued, the magic castle/ship/train of the evil king get's destroyed and everyone gets a medal.
What's exactly sci-fi here?
That could play out in medieval times. Or ancient greece. Or the wild west. Or on Christmas.
The setting and the genre are two different things and both determine what you'll label a story with.
Alien is a horror movie, a slasher. Aliens is a war movie. Alien³ is a horror movie of the animal-gone-maneater kind. Alien: Resurrection is a disaster movie (hihi).
They're all sci-fi, like Star Wars. Because of the setting.
Now look at Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 2 Episode 9 'The Measure Of A Man'.
Lasers, spaceships, robots, the usual. What is it about?
A Robot who's so sophisticated that he has to go to trial to prove he's not property but a real boy. Sure, you'll say, I've seen Pinocchio and I can see african men argue the same stuff in the 18th century. The point of the story is not only that is humanity is questioned, the point is he's an artificial lifeform. The question is not only 'What makes you a person?' but also 'When does artificial intelligence become an artificial person?'
That shit won't work in a setting without spaceships and robots. That's sci-fi because of its story.
So, setting and story are both what makes you label a movie a certain way but they're not the same.
Die Hard. Happens on Christmas. Could be Thanksgiving too. Setting interchangeable.
Story? Doesn't contain any christmas-related themes beyond two estranged family members become closer again. That could happen at a funeral as well.
I'm in my mid-thirties and I love Die Hard. It's one of the best 80's action movies. I can watch it anytime and I've seen it at least 20 times (noit joking here). But mostly in the summer. But I understand the question and its diverse answers perfectly well.
Die Hard is a christmas movie if it feels like one to you. For me, Lord of the Rings (especially Fellowship) feels like a Christmas movie to me. I've seen them all in theatres in December, I watched them on VHS and Blu-Ray only in December so far. They have fuck all to do with the occasion but this year was the first one I didn't watch any of them in December. And I feel I missed something this year. I'm not sure I can watch them at this time of the year.

Black Christmas, the spiritual precursor to Halloween, is a fun Christmas movie, as well! Nothing like getting stabbed with the horn of a glass unicorn while children sing carols on Christmas!

Damn you @eric3579, the past day and a half I've had that song "Let it snow" running non-stop through my head now!

Oh, and other Christmas movies that come to mind are (in no particular order) Scrooged, Miracle on 34th Street and National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.

If it's a Wonderful Life is a Christmas movie (because aside from the last scene that everyone remembers, it pretty much has nothing to do with Christmas), then Die Hard is definitely a Christmas movie.

Interesting question.

My personal take is that I wouldn't call it a "Christmas movie" because the Christmas elements aren't particularly integral to the story, but it is borderline.

Elf and Ernest Saves Christmas are Christmas movies. Home Alone and Die Hard are harder to call, but I'd say yes for Home Alone and no for Die hard.

Definitely a Christmas movie. Don't forget the scene where the elevator opens to the dead gunman sitting on a chair, and written on his sweater is "Now I have a machine gun. Ho-Ho-Ho"

I consider it a Christmas movie, but it isn't my first thought or my go-to Christmas movie. That would have to go to 'A Christmas Story'.

Yes.

Just because a movie happens on Christmas, doesn't automatically make it a Christmas movie. For example, I don't consider Home Alone a Christmas movie (or at least as much), but I do Die Hard, though I don't know if I could say why.

I did a redo here, sorry http://videosift.com/poll/Do-you-consider-the-film-Die-Hard-a-Christmas-movie-1

Not really, no. A Christmas movie to me has Christmas as an essential part of the plot, not just a movie that is regularly showing on Christmas.

That said, this reminds me of the Christmas version of Castle Wolfenstein 3D...

It is absolutely a Christmas movie. I consider it, Scrooged, Home Alone, National Lampoon's Xmas Vacation, and A Christmas Story to be my top 5.

It's not a movie about Christmas, but it's a movie I often watch at Christmas, so it's a Christmas movie, like the original Star Wars trilogy or the original Indy movies.

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